Tutorials: User Interface

• FolderMill Control Panel
  • Settings
  • Document Conversion Rules
  • Log Files
• FolderMill Service
• FolderMill Processor (Window Mode)

FolderMill Control Panel

Designed to control the FolderMill Document Conversion Server, configure its basic settings, and create and edit document conversion rules.

It is started by selecting Start->All Programs->FolderMill->FolderMill Control Panel. The figure shows the main application window.

A FolderMill Document Conversion Server status line as well as buttons to start and stop the service are presented in the center of the area on the left-hand side. If the service is stopped and a window-based version of the server is running, the status line displays "Windows mode." This same area displays information on the intermediate states of the service such as "Service is starting", "Service is stopping", etc.

Below there is the log file viewer button used to display log files with information on server operation and errors, the server configuration button providing access to principal server settings, and the help button.

The central area displays a list of registered conversion rules and brief rule descriptions as well as a rule toolbar with configuration buttons.

Settings

FolderMill Document Conversion Server basic configuration mode. When the software is run for the first time, the FolderMill Control Panel is displayed automatically.

• "Rescan Period" is an integer value in seconds that determines how frequently all the conversion rules are scanned.
• "Max Print Time" is an integer value that determines the maximum time in seconds that may be spent converting a single document. In the event of problems of any nature, file conversion will be interrupted once this timeout expires.
• "Unconverted folder" is a folder holding files that cannot be converted for whatever reason (document structure or integrity is compromised, for instance). To the right of this field, there is a button that calls up a dialog to search for or select this folder. If this field is empty, "defective" files are not moved.
• "Log file name" is the name of a text file that captures any events related to the operation of the conversion server. If the field is empty, no log is kept.
• "Error log file name" is the name of a text file that captures any errors related to the operation of the conversion server. If the field is empty, no log is kept.
• "Max log size" is the maximum allowable size in kilobytes for log files of all types. In the event that this size is exceeded, the current file is renamed with a .bak extension, and an empty file is created.
• "Date/time format" is a text field that defines the date and time formats for date and time stamps placed in log files. Here, "dd" stands for date, "mm" is month as a two-digit number, "yyyy" is year, "hh" stands for hours, "nn" for minutes, "ss" for seconds, and "zzz" for milliseconds.
• "Service start type" is the FolderMill Document Conversion Server start mode. In manual mode, the service is started only when the button in the left-hand side toolbar is pressed (or by using computer Administration). In automatic mode, the service proceeds to document processing directly following operating system start. User login is optional in this case.
• "Interface language" selects the control panel interface language. No program restart is required following a language change. Advanced users may create customized language interfaces using the bundled "*.lng" files as templates. The name of this file is used as the name of the language selected from a list of available languages.

The OK button is used to save the selected settings while Cancel closes the window without saving changes. If the specified folders do not exist, you will be prompted to create them.

Document Conversion Rules

The list contains all registered document conversion rules and provides a brief description of each rule. The toolbar located above the list provides access to rule manipulation.

Create Rule

Creating a new processing rule. An editing window is displayed for the newly created rule.

This is used to specify:

• a rule name for rule identification within the list of rules.
• an input folder which will contain the documents to be converted.
• an output folder which will hold the resulting image files.

The conversion format is specified in the next step:

• image file format ("File Format")
• color depth appropriate to the selected file format. The greater the color depth, the larger the resulting file.
• image resolution. The greater the resolution, the larger the resulting file.
• crop empty margins. If set, any unused margins within the document will be cropped out of the resulting image.

The OK button saves changes while Cancel closes the window without saving.

Edit Rule

Displays a window to edit a rule selected from the list (cf. Creating New Rules). The editing mode is also entered by double-clicking the selected rule.

Copy Rule

Creates a copy of the selected rule and displays the settings dialog given that rules with identical input and output folders make no sense as all files in the specified folder will be processed based on the first rule leaving any other rules with nothing to convert.

Delete Rule

A popup is displayed requesting confirmation that the selected rule is to be deleted, and the rule is deleted once confirmation is received. This action cannot be undone.

Export Rule

The selected rule is saved to an .ini text file. The file name is specified in a Save File dialog.

Import Rule

The Open File dialog is used to select the desired rule in an .ini text file, following which the rule configuration dialog is displayed.

Log Files

FolderMill Document Conversion Server log viewing mode.

When started, causes the contents of the server log to be displayed. The "Error log file" button displays the error log. The "Clear log" button clears the selected log.

FolderMill Service

The FolderMill Service performs the bulk of the document conversion work.

Any errors generated in the course of operation are captured in a special log file.

FolderMill Processor (Window Mode)

Has the same functionality as a conventional MS Windows application. To start the application, log into the system as an administrator and select the appropriate option from Start->All programs->FolderMill.

This application cannot run while the FolderMill Service is running because of possible sharing violations if the same document file is processed. The application checks whether the service is started, and if it is, issues a warning and shuts down.

The FolderMill Processor (Windows Mode) is used as a debugging tool during initial system configuration since unlike the service, it displays error messages. The service only records errors in a log without displaying any messages for the user.